PAX Centurion - January / March 2016

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • January/March 2016 • Page 35 The Tower of Babel: “Press One for English!?!?!” Whenwill the insanity of liberalismend? I recently received some information from an insurance company in the mail. About to throw this drivel away, I noticed that an enclosure contained the following (reprinted here) “helpful” translation bulletin, written in six languages, including Tagalog (Filipino) and Navajo (American Indian). I do not know how many Navajo Indians or Filipinos that this enclosure helped: I am reasonably certain that Tagalog or Navajo-speaking people probably threw this crap from the insurance company away, too. (Question: was this envelope that the material was sent in also printed in Navajo informing the recipient that it was T’A’A’ I’YISI I’LI’ ? (IMPORTANT) . If not, the recipient may have missed his IMPORTANT insurance information telling him to call 1 (866) 374-6060. If it was printed in Navajo, then how the hell did the U.S. mailman Di’i’ naaltsoos nich’ i’ a’lyaa’ i’gi’i’ daats’ i’yiniltahgo bi’i’ni’ghah? (Can you read this letter?) Contrary to popular opinion, I am not complaining about this letter. Oh, no, no, no. No, I want MORE of it! I’ve decided, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”Why stop at just six languages?Aren’t we discriminating against those who speak Italian, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Burundian? (I do not know if Burundian is an actual language, but I assume that those from Burundi speak it.) How about Gaelic, Norwegian, Polish, Cambodian and Portuguese? I am willing to wager 10-1 that there are more Polish and Cambodian speaking individuals in the Boston area than there are Navajo-speakers. And why stop at Navajo? Don’t the Sioux, Cherokee andWampanoag have their own languages? In all seriousness, have we all gone off the deep-end? In the name of political correctness and in the name of accommodating all, we accommodate and satisfy none. We stoke the fires of parochialism and victimhood. French- Canadians are very protective of their language and their culture, yet this letter does not recognize their language as being as important as Tagalog. So why would I buy insurance from a company that didn’t feel my language was important? Who determined that these six languages were important enough to include in a letter explaining insurance benefits? Who, in our government, our schools, our workplaces, makes these determinations?Who makes us “PRESS ONE FOR ENGLISH, PRESS TWO FOR SPANISH” at everyATM or on every recorded phone call? I know this is going to sound radical, perhaps even racist, but let me throw caution to the wind: AHEM… “THE LANGUAGE OFAMERICA IS ENGLISH.” There, I said it. Let the critics attack. I hope the good liberals in Cambridge and Brookline are wringing their hands at tie-dye class and swooning atYoga. THE LANGUAGE OFAMERICA IS ENGLISH!!! There I said it again, and with exclamation points at the end! Here’s a novel idea: Instead of “Celebrating Diversity,” let’s “Celebrate Sameness.”Yes, a common language, a common culture, a common history (the good, the bad and the ugly, all of it, together, but facts please, no opinions). For your information, the state language of Mexico is Spanish. NOTHING official By James W. Carnell, Pax Editor from the Mexican government is printed in anything BUT the Spanish language. Good for them! They have that right as a sovereign country. AND SO DOWE! So why do handwringing, guilt-ridden liberals feel that they must pander and kowtow to every culture, every country, every language except our own? In days gone by, immigrants (legal) toAmerica made a point of learning English as a way to assimilate. Many were proud to learn English and actually forbid the native tongue from being used inside the house, out of a (misguided?) sense of shame in their past. ESL (English as a second language) classes are a disgrace in and of themselves; English immersion should be the “first language” priority, not maintaining the native tongue. We are quickly becoming the biblical Tower of Babel, a land where no one understands each other and babbles in a foreign tongue. Personally, I will purchase insurance only from those who speak primarily English. Does that make me a racist…or a langu-ist?Well English is MY a’doolyi’i’l. And that’s T’A’A’I’YISI’ I’LI’ to me. So there. And I’m not translating it for you, either, you can look at the stupid insurance letter translate it yourself, youAma’dan…. (gaelic – simple, stupid, foolish person)